Rick Scott says Americans will make ‘right decisions’ on coronavirus without mask mandates, shutdowns
Sen. Rick Scott

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Voluntary actions, not mandates.

U.S. Sen. Rick Scott continued Thursday to insist people would make the ‘right decisions’ regarding coronavirus precautions — and without governmental mandates.

The U.S. Senator, in an op-ed and a follow-up interview on Fox News, lauded Americans’ so-called “rugged individualism” and suggested public health precautions ran counter to “the fundamental freedoms that undergirded our country’s founding.”

At times, the Senator’s argument, as it has been regarding this stage of the coronavirus crisis, has been fraught with internal contradictions.

“In a free society we have the right to act stupid, and we tend to regularly exercise that right,” Scott wrote, only to contradict the messaging when he said during the interview that “people are smart, give them good information.”

Scott’s aversion to mask mandates, rooted in “rugged individualism” as it may be, somehow finds a way to blame media.

“If you listen to the press, they want our government to mandate face masks and shut down our economy again because of spiking coronavirus cases. This would be a huge mistake and could take us from a recession to a depression. Re-closing our economy can only be supported by people who know virtually nothing about how the American economy works and people who do not know what it is like to struggle to pay the bills,” he wrote.

Whether the entire “press” wants to “shut down our economy” again is an open question, but the Senator continued to give vague advice to politicians.

“Our elected leaders need to be more forthcoming and quit caring about whether the press says they are doing a great job.” Scott wrote.

“Politicians and government officials haven’t done a good enough job getting the American people the information they need,” Scott added, saying that “elected leaders can’t sugarcoat where we are.”

The Senator continued to avoid specifics about Florida’s response to the virus in the op-ed and the television spot, frustrating those who might want more granular details on that front.

A.G. Gancarski

A.G. Gancarski has written for FloridaPolitics.com since 2014. He is based in Northeast Florida. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter: @AGGancarski


5 comments

  • S.B. Anthony

    July 2, 2020 at 10:48 am

    Is he kidding? Americans doing NOT the right thing is exactly why our numbers
    now are worse than ever. Other than possibly the fact that human blood doesn’t
    course through their veins, I can think of no other reason why the virus doesn’t
    take down some of these morons in D.C. and Tallahassee.

  • Jan

    July 2, 2020 at 11:38 am

    Let’s get rid of seat belts and speed limits, too. We will all “the right decisions.”

  • Ocean Joe

    July 2, 2020 at 12:19 pm

    Goodyear, if you’re listening, Rick will refill your blimp with hot air for free.

  • Phil Compton

    July 2, 2020 at 7:14 pm

    The Dark Lord strikes again. Much more effective than that old avada kedavra curse – you can knock off multiple people at once, not just one at a time.

  • Glenn Reihing

    July 4, 2020 at 10:44 am

    Obviously he is shutting his eyes when he goes past a bar, beach, or restaurant. Wonder if he went to Mt Rushmore?? And if he wore a mask?? And if he socially distanced?? Hhhmmm…???

Comments are closed.


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